I know I'm a few years late on this, but it's must-see! This film is an incredible documentary and journey. Gritty realism. Poetic imagery. Poetic story-telling. No talking heads. No reportage. Only the voices of the subjects as we see their lives unfold and their turbulent environments in these unspeakable times. Follows the life of a Sunna, a Shia, and a Kurd, and glimpses into each one's personal and cultural-specific struggle. 3 small stories that resonate on a broader collective scale.
The film has such a strong and "neat" narrative (with an impressionistic collage of visual data), that it almost feels scripted. Reminds me of Mira Nair's "Salaam Bombay," where the line between fact and fiction is almost non-existent, except instead of "actors" conforming to the director's narrative film, here, the director conforms to the lives of his subjects. The director/cameraman/editor/composer/producer James Longley set off and spent over a year in Iraq with 2 Panasonic DVX's, a shotgun mike, and a G4 laptop. Click this link for a great production article. A one man band, embedded in the lives of his subjects, resulting in a film so personal, powerful and beautiful. This film gives me much inspiration in making a great film even when flying solo with minimal technology, which is what I'll be doing when I set off to shoot a documentary in Russia this summer. Solo not by choice, but because of resources... but it also helps in the camoulflage. "Iraq in Fragments" is a great example of the saying, "necessity is the mother of invention."
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